Scale the Depths is a popular fishing game I’ve seen onn Steam that features a descaling and fin-cutting mechanic. The goal is really just to collect as much fish variation as possible (some being absurd, like giant or mythical fish monsters you need to descale), upgrade your gear, and feed your catch to the animals lining up on your boat, where doing so gets you cash to upgrade.
And just like anything else that grows in popularity, there will always be clones and knock-offs. Scale the Depths is no exception, and I found Catch and Feed, a mobile game available on both PlayStore and App Store.
I actually saw an ad for Catch and Feed on Facebook, and these shameless marketers are legitimately using gameplay and trailer clips from Scale the Depths as ads for their mobile clone. If you’re already making a knock-off of the game, at least use your own gameplay to advertise it.
The Gameplay Experience
The fish on the map are caught by hitting them with your hook, though by default your character swims to catch the fish himself.
There is no way to discard your current fish inventory, so sometimes the challenge, when you’re trying to catch deeper and rarer fish, is actually avoiding the small ones in shallow waters. Once you start a descaling mini-game, the health bars of all the fish currently in the water reset.
There are also some small errors and odd names given to the fish, like how a yellow pufferfish is named a Herring.
Collection and Maps
There are four maps in Catch and Feed: Home Island, Frost Island, Old Island, and Skull Island. Each map usually has 15 fish and a small twist on the descaling mechanic.
To unlock a new map, you need to collect stars (the number varies per fish depending on its rarity in the collection) and use your in-game cash currency.
Upgrades
Your upgrades are exclusive to your current location, so if you move to a new map, you’ll need to upgrade again from scratch. There are four upgradable tools, each up to level 10, with the same look across all maps:
- Knife: descales fish more efficiently
- Rod: longer fishing line for longer duration and deeper depths
- Hook: increases damage against fish to hook them faster
- Bag: increases fish and meat inventory
Microtransactions and Ads
There are also in-game transactions, usually for in-game currency and starter pack upgrades, ranging from PHP 195 to PHP 1,200 (~$2.99 to ~$19.99).
A lot of reviews complained about ads making the game unplayable, appearing after every two catch attempts. In my gameplay above, there are no ads because I’m using an ad blocker on my device.
The game has both banner ads and forced ads, which can be removed for PHP 299, or around ~$3.99.
There are also video ads you can voluntarily watch to earn in-game cash for upgrading your gear.
Final Thoughts
This game was made for the developer to maximize profits, and I understand that, given the banner and forced ads and microtransaction pop-ups. That said, I wish there were more variation in descaling the fish, like removing their guts or chopping off their fins, instead of just a timing bar you tap at the exact right moment.
In fact, to crank up the difficulty, they could create shorter green bars to tap precisely for higher-rarity fish.
I also find the fish-damaging method to be a bit clunky. When I was trying to catch the Dragon from Home Island, its hitbox was inconsistent, sometimes registering on the body and sometimes on the head.
It can be exciting trying to collect all the fish, but since descaling and cooking are always the same, collecting the rarer fish can feel a bit anticlimactic.
Either way, it’s a cool game that got me hooked for a few hours here and there.
What do you think? Will you be trying out this game? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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